NEWS: Gu Fang Bu Zi Shang (drama) #2

This is the second of the updates (yes, all thread OPs have to state the obvious first) about the Gu Fang drama. I haven't been on for ages. Feeling very depressed here.

Info on new characters:

Grand Duchess Zhang: Originally a woman from Jin. She got the King's favour and was given the title of Grand Duchess. She has admired Chu Beijie from a very young age and can't bear seeing Chu Beijie have other women. After several unfruitful confessions, her jealousy worsened and she decided to secretly collaborate with He Xia to ruin Chu Beijie. She killed the Queen; used drugs on the King until he became an addict. In the end when the truth came out, she was sent to the Cold Palace.

Madam Yan Shisan: The boss of Liang's Jiaoyan Betrothal. Although in the prostitution business, she has the heartiness of experienced people of society. After Chu Beijie went into hiding and learn trading, she became Chu Beijie's partner. She has always secretly liked Chu Beijie, but she is also the person tightly linked to why Chu Beijie and Bai Pingting would finally meet again.

Info on...the actors!!

Princess Yaotian: Qi Wei

Unknown: Yu Meng Long, Li Jiahang, Xuan Lu, Ma Tianyu

The webpage is up!!!

http://www.croton.com.cn/Pc/page/TVDetials.aspx?id=131

If you don't know Chinese, there's a description there which I roughly translated last time. It's yet to be airing (but I'm pretty sure the aired episode will be on there, so no need to worry about raws xD).

Confirmed 60 episodes, 45 min each.

Trivia:

I'm not the only one who shortens "Gu Fang Bu Zi Shang" to "Gu Fang". One of the editors say its nickname is "Gu Fang". xD

High budget. I read somewhere that Angelababy has already been paid 80 mill for this. I think this is yuan. It’s not as much as her other films though, but still...this novel has a way higher budget than I dared imagine.

Here's an interview with the author:

Quote :

Interviewer: Can you start by introducing the background and ideas behind the work, “Gu Fang”?

Feng Nong: I have liked writing since my early years, but have never found the right path, so it’s fortunate that the internet came about (lol). In 2000, I started to post things on the internet. Lots of people enjoyed it from the start, so I continued to post them. “Gu Fang” first started serialising in a magazine in the 2000s and was published in 2010. Back then, web novels weren’t as crazy popular as now, but the overall atmosphere was a lot better.

When writing “Gu Fang”, I felt that romance of novels back then were too focused on the face value, frequently having “beautiful as a flower” and “alluringly stunning” characters, as if those who looked average didn’t deserve to be heroines (lol). In my opinion, the first thing to look at may be the appearance, but to stay together for a lifetime, deep spiritual communication is crucial. That’s why I imagined two smart, arrogant people to love each other, like the way Bai Pingting and Chu Beijie did. He Xia and Yaotian’s love had been mixed with exploitation from the very start and it outweighed all other factors, so it was destined to be a sad ending.

Interviewer: The readers seem to prefer He Xia and Yaotian’s story more?

Feng Nong: He Xia and Yaotian’s story were closer to reality, and were different to Chu Beijie and Bai Pingting, who were rather unrealistic characters. While the readers were attracted by the pair of ideal lovers, they were actually more moved by the two who were closer to reality, as well as more sympathetic towards them.

Interviewer: What part of “Gu Fang” do you think attracts readers, compared to relatively similar novels?

Feng Nong: Apart from characters, I reckon attitude is important. I don’t particularly like novels where the woman takes the initiative to participate in war. If it was a female general, that’s understandable, but if it’s the wife of some Duke, or a maid, actively participating in the war doesn’t sit well with their identity. Bai Pingting has such a personality, and she doesn’t have to have to participate in the war. I wrote her personality as a woman without ambition, and gave her a relatively passive position. Chu Beijie was a person who was willing to listen to other opinions, even though he had a thorough understanding of the situation of the four countries. At the end of the novel, he and Bai Pingting establish a new country. What I want to express here is that no matter how many amazing things you do, compared to establishing new countries, world domination, they were all done on a basic foundation of human feelings.

Bai Pingting and Chu Beijie shared a common trait, that is, they didn’t take the saving of the world and its people as their own responsibility, which are what “saviours” are like. They struggled, fought because their loved ones had suffered pain and others were in the same situation. They felt uncomfortable, but it was a very equal sentiment. During his confrontation with He Xia, Chu Beijie didn’t have a thought of “It’s finally my turn to shine”, but was for his lover, as Pingting wanted to have a stable life. At the same time, he also told his soldiers to fight for their loved ones. It wasn’t some pointless goal, but a very real reason to protect people as they fought. This then became an issue of voluntary and involuntary.

Interviewer: Are such detailed values present throughout your other many works?

Feng Nong: Yes. Novels are separate worlds and the author is the creator of that world. Therefore, these worlds will more or less have the author’s own values in it.

Interviewer: What are your opinions on the current production team of “Gu Fang”?

Feng Nong: Beyond my expectations, I am very grateful to how carefully they treat “Gu Fang”. From the musicians to the script, it’s a long process. Director Kuk Kowk Leung and everyone else knows that, and there has been a lot of drama during directing, so I’m sure that “Gu Fang” will have a very secure release. Wallace Chung and baby are both very consistent with my expectations.

Interviewer: Bai Pingting was described as having a plain appearance, so isn’t baby too pretty?

Feng Nong: The point where baby matches Bai Pingting the most is where she isn’t aggressive at all, and feels very comfortable.

Interviewer: What about Wallace Chung?

Feng Nong: I have seen some pictures, very hot (lol), but he also looks very sharp and has a commanding presence, which is very consistent with Chu Beijie’s image.

(end of part 1: source)

If anyone wants to join in the hunt for info, the Chinese name is: 孤芳不自賞(it could also be 孤芳不自赏, but there isn’t much difference when typing into search engines.)